SOUTH AFRICA INVOLVED IN PROCESSES TO FIND A LASTING POLITICAL SOLUTION IN SRI LANKA

Mr Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim (Centre), Mr Pregs Padaychee (SGPJ) and Mr Anil Sooklall (DG Department of International Relations) By Subry Govender South Africa's Deputy Minister of International Affairs, Mr Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, will accompany the ruling ANC's Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to Sri Lanka in an attempt to promote a "lasting political solution" to the crisis facing the Tamil people. The two leaders and their officials will travel to Sri Lanka within the next month or so. This was disclosed during a meeting Mr Ebrahim and other senior Government and ANC officials held with leaders of the Solidarity Group for Peace and Justice in Sri Lanka(SGPJ) at the Shri Mariammen Cultural Centre in Mount Edgecombe, north of Durban, on Friday, March 6.

Mr Obed Bopela, Deputy Minister in the Presidency (extreme right), Mrs Sally Padaychie, and others who attended the information talks Accompanying Mr Ebrahim at the meeting were Mr Obed Bopela, Deputy Minister in the Presidency: Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation; Mr Anil Sooklall, Director General in the Department of International Relations; and Mr Lebohang Matshaba, ANC International Relations Co-Ordinator: Latin America, Caribbeans, Australia and New Zealand. The SGPJ leaders in attendance were Mrs Sally Padaychie, wife of the late Minister Roy Padaychie who played a leading role in promoting the cause of peace in Sri Lanka; Mr Pregs Padayachee(secretary); Mr Solly Pillay (PRO); Mr Mervyn Reddy; Mr Dees Pillay; Mr Marimuthu Subramoney; and Mr Richard Govender, president of the Tamil Federation of KwaZulu-Natal and executive official of the South African Tamil Federation.

Mr Richard Govender, president of the Tamil Federation of KwaZulu-Natal and executive official of the South African Tamil Federation; Mr Dees Pillay and Mr Mervyn Reddy Mr Padaychee, in his presentation to the Government and ANC leaders, said they were also concerned about "South African business interests in SL and vice versa". "We have in the past criticised the ANC business delegation to Sri Lanka. We cannot do business in a country where people are oppressed, their land is colonised, where soldiers rape and kill and where the human rights of people are violated," said Mr Padaychee. "We have certain values, principles and morals." Mr Ebrahim, referring to the Government's move to assist in finding a political solution, said: "We will talk to all the role players during our visit and even visit the North and East to see for ourselves and interview the affected people." Mr Ebrahim and Mr Bopela also disclosed that a delegation of the TNA would visit South Africa soon to hold talks with Mr Ramaphosa, who has been appointed as South Africa's Special Envoy on Sri Lanka by President Jacob Zuma recently. Mr Ramaphosa has already held talks with a Sri Lankan Government delegation that visited South Africa a few weeks ago. Mr Ebrahim and Mr Bopela made the disclosures about South Africa's commitment to bring about a "lasting political solution" in Sri Lanka after the SGPJ leaders questioned them about the ruling ANC's failure to condemn the "genocide" of between 70 and 100 000 Tamils during the final stages of the civil war in 2009; South Africa's stance at the current UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva; South Africa's position regarding a Truth and Reconciliation Commission(TRC) that the Sri Lankan Government wants to establish in place of demands for an international and independent inquiry into human rights violations. "We did not talk about a TRC when President Zuma held talks with the Sri Lankan President, Rajapakse, during the Chogm summit," said Mr Ebrahim. "It was the Sri Lankan Government leaders who spoke about a South African-style TRC. What we talked about was a political solution that will bring lasting peace to the island. "Mr Ramaphosa will talk to all role players in Sri Lanka and find out from them what they want. The Tamil people must tell us what solution they would like to see. Mr Ramaphosa will then draw up his report," he said. "The international processes for an inquiry is completely separate from the political solution processes we are involved in." Mr Ebrahim said they would draw up their own itineray when they visit Sri Lanka. South Africa would also talk to the Tamil diaspora organisations - BTF, GTF, TGTE and others - based in Britain, Canada and other countries. Mr Ebrahim also disclosed that South Africa had hosted LTTE leaders in South Africa on several occasions and had been in touch with LTTE leaders during the last stages of the civil war. One of the leaders he had kept in touch with was Mr Thamil Selvan, who was one of the leaders who had visited South Africa. Mr Selvan and most of the top LTTE leaders were killed while trying to hand themselves over to the Sri Lankan Government soldiers. Regarding the "genocide" in 2009, Mr Bopela said the ANC had issued a statement at that time condemning the violation of human rights. "As far as I am aware the ANC has always spoken out against human rights violations all over the world. The ANC spoke out against the killings in 2009," he said. The two leaders would not commit themselves as to how South Africa would vote at the UN Human Rights Council session on March 28 but indicated that they were talking to all role players. Mr Bopela said they were meeting with local South African Tamil leaders to inform them of the steps the Government was taking to "bring about a lasting political solution to the Tamil question in Sri Lanka". "We want to keep the people informed of what we are doing" he said.